Contents contributed and discussions participated by Michael Fisher
Is Turkey Renaming Istanbul Constantinople? | Foreign Policy - 0 views
New Media and Blogs in the Middle East - 0 views
Internet & Democracy Blog » Why Twitter Won't Bring Revolution To Iran - 0 views
Texting Toward Utopia - 0 views
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Many such dissenters have, indeed, made great use of the Web. In Ukraine young activists relied on new–media technologies to mobilize supporters during the Orange Revolution. Colombian protesters used Facebook to organize massive rallies against FARC, the leftist guerrillas. The shocking and powerful pictures that surfaced from Burma during the 2007 anti–government protests—many of them shot by local bloggers with cell phones—quickly traveled around the globe. Democratic activists in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe used the Web to track vote rigging in last year’s elections and used mobile phones to take photos of election results that were temporarily displayed outside the voting booths (later, a useful proof of the irregularities). Plenty of other examples—from Iran, Egypt, Russia, Belarus, and, above all, China—attest to the growing importance of technology in facilitating dissent.
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But drawing conclusions about the democratizing nature of the Internet may still be premature. The major challenge in understanding the relationship between democracy and the Internet— aside from developing good measures of democratic improvement—has been to distinguish cause and effect. That is always hard, but it is especially difficult in this case because the grandiose promise of technological determinism—the idealistic belief in the Internet’s transformative power—has often blinded even the most sober analysts.
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investing in new media infrastructure might also embolden the conservatives, nationalists, and extremists, posing an even greater challenge to democratization. A brief look at the emerging cyber–nationalism in Russia and China provides a taste of things to come.
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Does the Internet spread democracy? Evgeny Morozov seeks to answer this question. He shows both the pros and cons of new media and criticizes certain people and works for exaggerating the Internet's present capabilities. While he agrees that the Internet has an enormous potential for building public spheres and having positive effects (among other things), he cautions observers from expecting too much, too soon.
Disappointment at Sharm al-Sheikh | Marc Lynch - 0 views
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Clinton prefers to double-down on the shopworn "West Bank first, Fatah only" policy which has been conspiciously failing for the last two years. The concrete manifestation: two-thirds of the U.S. contribution to the reconstruction of Gaza will go not to Gaza but to the West Bank.
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This all seems stuck in a bit of time-warp. It ignores the two year history of Israeli and Western failure under the identical discourse and policy to deliver meaningful benefits to the Palestinian Authority or the West Bank. It ignores the reality of Hamas power in Gaza, and the reality of Fatah's limited capabilities and legitimacy (which were not enhanced, shall we say, by Abbas's performance during the Gaza war). And it ignores the promise of the dramatic moves towards Arab reconciliation and the accomplishment of a tentative Hamas-Fatah accord last week
Iran ready to build nuclear weapon, analysts say - CNN.com - 0 views
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Iranian scientists have reached "nuclear weapons breakout capability," according to a new report based on findings of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. An ISIS report says Iran has enough uranium for a nuclear weapon but would need further refinement before turning into weapon. Iran says claims it intends to build nuclear bombs are "baseless."
All aboard the Arab reconciliation train | Marc Lynch - 0 views
How Iranians See Their Country - 0 views
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